Beaten and Broken
by Anonymous-Trouble-Maker
Summary: The team shows up at work to find Horatio's car still in the driveway and discover that he never left work the night before.
1. Injured

Eric and Calleigh greeted Ryan as they just arrived for work.

Frank pulled up next,then Jesse and Alexx soon followed a little later.

Walter showed up last,with Natalia in the passenger's seat since her car broke down.

They were all about to go into the building when they all noticed Horatio's car sitting in the driveway.

''How about that...H is early,''Ryan said as he looked at his watch.

''Too early,''Natalia stated. It was indeed far too early for Horatio to be at work.

Eric pressed his hand against the hood of the car. ''Engine's cold. This car hasn't been moved at all.''

''Eric,where was Horatio when you left last night?''Calleigh asked.

''He was examining the car from the murder. He said he had a lot of work to do.''

''If the engine's cold,then...''

''Oh no...''

Ryan bolted inside and began searching the lab for his boss. He started with the obvious;Horatio's office.

No luck. He bolted to every other part of the lab possible until he found the make-shift garage where the car was being processed.

Ryan didn't even have to step into the room to know that something was wrong. There was an overpowering stench that he recognized as blood.

He inhaled and held his breath and stepped into the room to find the car still parked,but the tools for gathering evidence were all over the floor.

Along with tools and pieces of evidence on the floor lay Ryan's redheaded boss,sprawled like a rag doll.

''...H...?''he asked softly. Getting to his knees,Ryan checked for a pulse,and he had a very good reason to.

Horatio's entire body was beaten. One eye was bleeding,there were multiple stab wounds,none of which were in vital areas,(to Ryan's relief)and the younger guessed there would be more injuries that would show up on an x-ray.

His arms and legs were no doubt littered with bruises,and someone had tried to strangle the redhead to death,and Ryan could tell this by bruises around the neck that suggested a pair of hands.

Ryan just barely relaxed a little bit when he found a pulse,but it was very faint.

He knew Horatio well enough,and he knew that to do the amount of damage done to his boss,it would take a whole group of maybe seven people to hold him down,and another three to do the beating. In short,it would take a lot more than one person to overpower his boss.

But the damage applied to Horatio's body expressed only one person.

Ryan parted Horatio's uninjured eye open and found the pupil significantly dilated.

Horatio was in no possible way an alcoholic,and Ryan searched the bloody body and found two small wounds that were separate from most of his body. In fact,they were near the middle of his spine. They looked almost as if two small prongs had been jammed into his back.

Judging by the spacing of the wounds,Ryan figured Horatio had been hit with a tasor.

''Oh my god...''Calleigh fell apart and Eric found himself trying to comfort her while Ryan and Walter attempted to stop the bleeding in some of Horatio's wounds. Natalia was in the bathroom puking her stomach out from the stench of blood,and Alexx was outside waiting for the ambulance to show up.

When the EMT's arrived,the team stepped out of the way and watched them give Horatio oxygen and various pain killers,other than morphine.

Ryan followed the EMT's out and joined them in the ambulance.

* * *

Ryan and Eric stood and watched from another room as surgery was performed on their boss. Apparently,there were broken blades jammed into some of Horatio's wounds.

Ryan was concentrated on something else,though. He was watching the almost unnoticeable movement of Horatio's eyelashes. Ryan panicked.

Horatio was still conscious!

But he seemed oblivious to the pain. Ryan's fingers subconsciously gripped his sleeves tighter as the doctors continued to perform surgery,oblivious to the fact that Horatio was still awake.

Eric followed his friend's line of sight and noticed the same thing. He gulped and waited for the flat-line,but it never came.

The doctors began stitching Horatio's wounds,and then one of them realized exactly what Ryan and Eric had realized. Then it clicked that he'd cut into someone who was awake for the whole thing.

Eric and Ryan guessed he'd told the other doctors,because soon there were more doctors than Ryan could count rushing in and out of the OR.

Eventually,everyone calmed down,but they couldn't figure out how the hell they'd just put a conscious man through two hours of surgery without killing him.

Finally deciding that Lt. Horatio Caine had just broken several health codes that,in all honesty,he really shouldn't have,the doctors finally lay the man down to rest in a hospital bed.

* * *

Eric and Ryan were simply staring at the sleeping figure.

''How the fuck was he awake for all that?!''Eric asked.

Ryan was too stunned to even try to come up with an answer.

''I don't know. His body works in strange ways. **I** wouldn't even be able to pull through something as severe as that. But Horatio did...there's just **gotta** be something wrong with him. It's impossible to be wide awake through surgery and live. The pain would kill you before the bleeding did.''

Eric shook his head in utter disbelief. Even the doctors that had performed the surgery couldn't understand it.

But Horatio was alive. That was all that mattered.

Sooner or later,Ryan would have to question the redhead on how he was even awake through the surgery.

The doctors had given him enough anesthesia to kill a small animal,and yet he had been awake for every cut and slice.

It. Just. Didn't. Make. Sense.

* * *

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**_Chapter 2 will be up soon!_**


	2. Something's Wrong

Horatio opened his eyes and looked up to find that he was being stared at by his entire team.

Shock and disbelief were plastered all over their faces.

''Feeling better H?''Frank asked.

Horatio moaned and sat up. His body ached.

''Thirteen blades...I sure hope they got them all,because it sure doesn't feel like it,''Horatio muttered softly.

''Yeah,speaking of which,how in the hell were you awake through that?!''Alex demanded.

Horatio shrugged and yelped when he felt something sharp poke at his side.

''You no good...''Horatio jammed his fingers into his open wound and ripped the blade out of his side. The wound failed to bleed,and Horatio sighed with relief as he dumped the blade onto a tray on the table next to the blade.

Afterwards,he lay back to look at his team and saw that they were even more shocked. ''Anesthesia is ineffective. It doesn't work on me.''

''Well it should,''Walter implied.

''Even if they gave me enough to kill a horse,it still wouldn't work.''

''Why not?''

''Not sure.'' Horatio jerked his arm and yelped again. He jammed his fingers into another wound and,as the team watched with upset stomachs,Horatio tore the blade free from his arm.

He groaned in pain as the sound of flesh ripping echoed throughout the room.

Natalia and Eric had retreated from the room to the bathroom to puke their guts again.

Walter and Ryan just winced,Calleigh and Frank held their breath so they didn't yell at the man,leaving Alexx to lecture the man.

''Horatio,you could have said something to the doctors!''

''They would've been too slow and wouldn't have believed me.''

Alexx was just about raise her voice and smack Horatio upside the head like any other person with motherly love would when the doctor came in.

The doctor took one look at Horatio's arm and raised a questioning brow.

''You missed a few,''Horatio stated matter-of-factly as he held up the blades.

The doctor stared at him and crossed his arms,clipboard in one hand,pen in the other. ''You could have said something,Lieutenant.''

''No,I don't think so. I don't like it when surgery is performed on me. I can feel everything.''

''Mm. Your ability to withstand anesthesia is unusual,but being able to go through surgery awake...It makes me wonder how much pain you were in.''

''None.''

''What?''

''None. The pain killers were still in effect.''

The doctor shuddered visibly at the thought of lying on a table with knives cutting into him and left the room.

Natalia and Eric finally came back,still looking sick to their stomachs.

Horatio smiled.

He wasn't sure why he was bale to withstand anesthesia.

But he wasn't complaining. He got a strange pleasure out of watching his team throw up as he tore the blades out of his body.

Though he wasn't sure why it seemed funny to him. His sense of humor,even by his own standards,was very dry.

* * *

''H,do you have any idea who attacked you at work?''Ryan asked. Horatio sighed as he stared at the black computer screen while sitting at the desk.

The last week had been spent on searching camera footage,but there was no luck. Right before something was about to happen,everything would malfunction.

Not surprising.

''No...'' Horatio groaned and rubbed his head.

Ryan stood and watched him for a minute. ''Are you feeling okay?''

''Yeah...just a little...headache...''Horatio went to stand and staggered,landing in Ryan's arms.

''H,are you sure?''

Horatio pulled away and tried to stand. But his legs buckled and he collapsed to the floor.

''Horatio?!''

The redhead was being held by Ryan,wrapped in the younger's arms as he sat on the floor.

''H...''

Horatio could barely see. Everything had all of a sudden gone blurry. He also felt like he'd been walking through the Death Valley desert for months.

''Ryan...do something...'' Horatio passed out in Ryan's arms.

''Horatio!''

Ryan's cry was heard by Alexx and Frank,who were both on their way to give their latest updates and findings;Frank on the cameras,and Alexx on the newest dead body.

Alexx came running in before Frank could,and in no time she had her hand pressed against the unconscious man's forehead.

Frank had managed to step into the room after having Alexx almost knock him over.

She pulled her hand away with a bit of a screech of pain. The skin on her hand was now peeling away.

''He's burning up! Get an ambulance! **NOW**!''

In the back of his mind,Horatio heard faint sirens,and he heard some yelling and shouting. But he couldn't see anything.

He tried to breath,but the air felt suffocating.

Suddenly a fresh gush of cool,relaxing air came,and he could breath. He felt several hands moving his body,and then he was lying on something soft.

His head was spinning,and he tried desperately to wake up and look around. But all he could do was move his head.

He heard more shouting and yelling,and his mind tried to piece together the disembodied voices.

It tried again and again,desperately attempting to tell who was calling his name. But all he could tell before everything blacked out,was that the two voices belonged to a female and a male.

He wanted to call out and ask what as happening,what was going on. But his mind demanded sleep,and his black oblivion of unconsciousness grew even blacker,and the voices grew more distant.

Soon,he couldn't hear anything.

Something was wrong. That was for sure. But Ryan and Alexx weren't sure of what.

Horatio had only been out of the hospital for a week.

Ryan didn't know what to do,other than watch the EMT's take his boss back to the hospital.

* * *

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_**Chapter 3 will be up soon.**_


	3. Illness

Ryan and the team stared as Horatio thrashed in the hospital bed.

Horatio seemed to be having a nightmare.

* * *

_Horatio sighed as he went __through the slides of various samples he'd collected from the car. It had been at east two hours since his team went home for the night. _

_A lot of work had to be done,and Horatio really didn't want to leave it to Ryan and Walter. Those two had enough to work on._

_He went to pick up another slide when something was suddenly jammed into his spine. To him,they felt like two small prongs._

_Horatio arched into the object as he suddenly felt electricity searing through him and he began screaming._

_There was laughter in the room,but Horatio's mind couldn't process it as he fell to the floor,shaking violently._

_A tall,dark figure shrouded in black was standing over him,watching his reaction to the tasor with interest._

_Horatio managed to turn his head slowly and shakily and look up at his attacker,but his vision was blurred._

_The redhead heard the tasor hit the floor,but that was because his attacker had something else in mind. He felt his arm being tugged at,and then something thin and sharp pierced it._

_There was a wave of warmth through his body for a moment,but it didn't take him long to figure out that he was receiving an injection._

_Horatio finally regained some control over his body and tried to move away._

_That was when he felt another explosion of electricity in his body and he erupted with screams again._

_It seemed like forever before the pain stopped. _

_When it did,Horatio's attacker pulled his hands away to examine him._

_Horatio lay on his side,twitching visibly. His eyes were noticeably dilated,and he had a dazed expression._

_The redhead's world was spinning in circles and flashing in multiple colors._

_His mind wasn't processing anything._

_At least not until Horatio suddenly felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach._

_Then the pain started to radiate all over his body._

_His body,to Horatio's dismay,registered the pain as stabbing,and soon Horatio was whimpering with each stab._

_After an hour of stabbing pain in the legs,arms,one of his hands,his side and shoulder,Horatio was bleeding all over the floor. He'd grown pale from blood loss,and it almost seemed to him like he wouldn't make it through the night._

_Then to top it off,the tasor came back,and that did it._

_Horatio blacked out._

* * *

Alexx was standing outside of Horatio's room in the hospital arguing with the doctor for giving Horatio morphine while the rest of the team was in the room,still just staring.

The doctors had jammed a tube down Horatio's throat to help him breath,and his wrists were restrained to the bed since one of the doctors didn't read the report and gave him morphine.

There was an IV in his arm that gave him painkillers.

Ryan was standing in the room,watching Horatio thrash and pull on the restraints.

''Do you think he was poisoned?''Calleigh asked quietly.

Ryan nodded.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes,and then Horatio stilled in the bed.

Ryan froze,and then Horatio suddenly launched up into a sitting position,eyes wide.

The nightmare was so clear to him that it scared him. Then suddenly he was able to process the laughter he'd heard right before he fell to the floor.

He thought he'd killed him when he pushed him down the stairs...

Ryan and the team watched Horatio's hands form into fists in the restraints.

''Horatio...?''

The redhead looked up and saw that Ryan was the one that called him.

Upon seeing the younger male,Horatio calmed down and leaned back against the bed.

''H?''

Horatio's eyes closed and his expression hardened.

_'That fucking bastard...he should be dead!'_Horatio's mind screamed.

At that moment,the doctor came in with Alexx.

Since the doctor decided to stand around and talk to his team,Horatio growled angrily and finally ripped his hands free of the restraints and yanked the tube out of his mouth.

The doctor was quick to react and soon there were several nurses in the room holding him down while the tube was jammed down his throat again.

Ryan and the team were in the corner of the room in shock,listening to Horatio's grunts of denial.

When most of the doctors finally cleared out,Horatio's doctor was standing in front of his bed,arms crossed and glaring.

Horatio returned the glare.

''I know the tube down your throat is an uncomfortable feeling,but without it,you won't be able to breath.''

Horatio glared and sat back against the bed.

''I'll be back in an hour to check on the swelling in your throat.''

Horatio threw an unoccupied tray at the doctor.

The doctor returned it in the same manner and hit Horatio in the head,and the tray landed in Horatio's lap.

''He's got a good arm,''Frank chimed.

Horatio threw the tray at Frank.

Frank yelped in pain,and Ryan smiled as Horatio's eyebrows narrowed in anger and crossed his arms.

''You done acting like a two year old,H?''Ryan asked as he sat down next to the bed.

Horatio gave him the one finger salute and began to pout.

''Horatio! Watch your language!''

The redhead turned his head slowly and glared at the new voice;Natalia. He gave her the hand signal for ''Up yours'' and continued to pout.

''Don't worry. You should be out of here in a few days...provided nothing happens to your system,''Alexx reassured.

Horatio relaxed a little bit,but not much,and certainly not enough to make Ryan feel better.

* * *

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_**Chapter four'll be up soon.**_


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